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Reuters reports investors have punished Samsung’s stock during the opening hours of trading as shares fell as much as 7.5% (a 1.183 million won drop; its largest drop in four years), causing the South Korean company to lose $12 billion in market value:

“An adjustment in the next few days is unavoidable as the damage amount was much bigger than market expectations, and there are further uncertainties such as the possibility of a sales ban,” said John Park, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

The latest issue is whether the latest Samsung Galaxy SIII could be targeted next by Apple; analysts note Samsung’s ability as a “fast executioner” to match others’ innovation means they would be able to churn out non-patent infringing smartphones quickly before a ban could take place. Jeez, even analysts are aware of Samsung’s copycat abilities.

An internal Samsung memo seen by Reuters notes Samsung wanted to settle but ‘had no choice’ but to counter sue:

“We’ve sought to settle this through negotiations, as Apple is our customer but had no choice but to counter sue,” the memo said. “There’s no firm in history which has sustained growth by trying to stifle competition with legal fights on patents, rather than fairly compete with innovation in the market place.”